The USW women's soccer team gets ready to open their season tonight in a scrimmage against Abilene Christian University in Abilene at 5:00 PM MST. This will be a big test for the Lady Mustangs right out of the gate. The Lady Mustangs went 7-5 last year with a 4-3 conference record in a season that was played in the spring due to Covid restrictions in the Fall and one in which they played all of their games on the road due to Covid restrictions in the state of New Mexico. Head Coach D'Angelo Garcia Enters his fourth season as head coach of the Lady Mustangs and has done a great job since taking over the program. 
 
As far as expectations for the season go, Coach Garcia had this to say "I am so grateful and excited to get this fresh-full season underway. It's been a long process and journey since the last time we had a "normal season" however we cannot be any more excited to get started with a normal year. We have a lot of returning key players as well as some new faces that joined us last season that haven't yet experienced how a normal season is played. Coming off a very unusual year, the girls are anxious and eager to get this season underway and to prove to everybody else what USW Women's Soccer is about. We have a very tough pre-season and regular season schedule. Opening up with two scrimmages against NCAA Division One teams, playing a tough Lonestar Conference Team LCU, then heading to Arizona to play two highly respected Nationally ranked NAIA teams, our season is cut out for us. It won't be easy by any means, but these are the games we live to play for. If we want to be the best, we need to play the best. We like to have a tough regular-season schedule so we can work on the weaknesses we are exposed too, to be ready for conference play. I believe and know we have what it takes by the type of players we have on our roster, it's just a matter of fitting all of the pieces together so we can peak at the right time.  "
 
When asked about key returners for this season Garcia declared "Overall, we are very fortunate to have a very experienced squad this year. We have several players (super seniors) returning since last year did not count against eligibility. Some of these key players include Adriana Guzman, Lauren Zarate, Priscilla Garcia, Kim Nevarez, Briana Brock, Josie Crump, and Maya Sanchez. Most of these players reside in our attack so with the experience that these specific players bring, we hope to see big contributions moving forward." This should make for a fun and competitive squad for the Lady Mustangs. 
 
Every year brings new players and new opportunities and you never know who will thrive, but when asked about newcomers who could make a big impact Garcia had this to say "We have a few newcomers that will contribute right away for us starting in goal. Unfortunately, Andrea Martinez (starting goalkeeper the past two years for us) suffered a knee injury recently, therefore we have two freshmen who are competing to earn a starting spot as our goalkeeper this year, Emileigh Lara and Kristina Simpson. Both of these girls have had an excellent first week of pre-season. They have been competing every day to earn the starting position which is making our decision a lot more difficult but it's a good problem to have. Jasmine Martinez and Sierra Saenz both center backs are two great additions to our backline. Both have been competing all week long to prove what they can do and I know they are both ready to give what they have when we need it this year." 
 
The Lady Mustangs don't open up at home until September 11^th but we hope to see you out at Bob Moran Field throughout the year to support this very talented and experienced Lady Mustang squad.